Who will be managing the White Sox next season? We tossed that question at a baseball source who is tight with team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, and got this succinct reply: “Ozzie Guillen.”

The same source also said, with zero equivocation, that if the Marlins think they can wait this out and then scoop Guillen off the unemployment line this winter, they’d better re-think. Unless the folks in Florida want to trade a big-time player to the South Side, the source said, the White Sox won’t make any move to resolve Guillen’s future until after the Marlins have hired a manager.

Seems like the Sox want to make others think Guillen isn’t going anywhere so they have more leverage in any negotiations that take place. I’m not confident it will work. There is also this nugget:

White Sox officials have been telling people in the game they need to cut payroll next year after going over budget this season. And they also have five starters under contract for next year, even without Buehrle.

So an executive of one team who spoke with the White Sox brass says the only way he sees them making room for Buehrle is if he’s willing to “be creative” about his next contract. AND the club would have to be able to trade one of its current starters — most likely Gavin Floyd. Can all that happen? Of course. But it’s still a lot of hoops for Buehrle and his team to jump through.

I think Buehrle will be “creative.” Maybe a 2-3 year offer would be enough. Sign him Jerry!

An extension for White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen does not appear to be on the table and it’s looking more and more like the team will have a new manager next season, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal said on The Mully and Hanley Show Tuesday.

“There is a point of critical mass that this team is reaching, and I would expect, I’m not saying this any more than speculatively, but I would expect that Ozzie would be gone,” Rosenthal said.

The FOX Sports baseball reporter says that the chances of Guillen returning to the South Side next season have diminished in the last couple of weeks.

“I feel for the White Sox,” he said. “Maybe if I go someplace else, I just have a ‘job’ and I will just do my ‘job.’ But with the White Sox, it’s different. I grew up in this organization. If I managed somewhere else, I would have the responsibility to go in with the best intentions, and I’ll still win. But this is a different thing, a different feeling. Sometimes I stop and say ‘Nah, I won’t [talk about managing elsewhere] because I might kill Jerry [Reinsdorf’s] heart. I say a lot of things, but I love this organization. It’s always going to be in my heart. Will it always be on my mind? We’ll see.”

“If Jerry doesn’t think I’m the right guy to run this ballclub, he won’t have any problem with me at all … at all,” Guillen said. “He can count on that. A lot of people think that if Ozzie leaves here he will have a press conference on Michigan Ave. and blast the White Sox. Nah. That won’t do me any good. Why?

“First of all, I live in Chicago. I want to walk to walk the streets of Chicago with my head up and not regret saying something I shouldn’t say. I’ll just leave it like that. Either way is fine with me.”

The only Xtra Base Hits I see is a double by Jon Gilmore and another by Alden Carrithers. So, Birmingham lost the series 3-2 and is eliminated from the Southern League playoffs.

Great Falls advanced to the Championship Round of the Pioneer League playoffs. They’ll play against the Ogden Raptors Orem Owlz. Game 1 is at Ogden tomorrow (Tuesday). Games 2 and 3 are at Great Falls Thursday and Friday

UPDATE: Great Falls’ opponent is Ogden, not Orem. Sorry for that. /UPDATE

Almost mirror images, right? [Mark] Buehrle is right on his career averages this season and he does this practically every single season, like clockwork. He is Jeff Suppan-esque in his consistency except he doesn’t stink. [Mark] Buehrle has tallied right around 46 WAR over 12 seasons and almost always produces 3.5-4.5 per season. Even his worst season was still league average by our standards here. …

Sign him Jerry! 2/25 may be enough. It doesn’t seem like Mark wants more years.

… Which leads to a question: What other players are like him? Who else has that one thing they know how to do, and God bless ‘em for it, because the rest of their game is weak. I don’t just mean hits, either. But there’s gotta be someone whose game is entirely based on power, or on walks, or on stolen bases, or on whatever.

Let’s see if we can field an entire lineup of these guys. The one-dimensional players, regardless of what the dimension is, who don’t bring too much else to the table.

What follows is a list of Juan Pierre All-Stars, and I’ll list what their big strength is alongside their name and position. …

The Marlins haven’t ruled out trading a player (certainly not a key one) for top managerial choice Ozzie Guillen, but prefer not to, and will wait until his availability is known before moving on to anyone else.

September 11, 2011

The Barons and BayBears will play a decisive Game Five of the Southern League’s Southern Divisional Series Monday night, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. [CT] at Mobile’s Hank Aaron Stadium. Birmingham will send left-handed pitcher Justin Edwards (0-0, N/A) while the BayBears counter with right-hander Charles Brewer (0-0, N/A).

September 10, 2011

White Sox pitching Don Cooper and Peavy spoke to MLB.com about that decision on Saturday.

“Jake right now is shut down,” said Cooper of the right-handed starter. “The things we are looking at right now are, one, we want to win as many games as we can. Two, we want to keep everybody strong and healthy and continue to finish this season strong.”

“With the way we are playing and with how it looks for us winning, and just where we are at in the season, they made a decision to start to rest and the recovery in the offseason period and try to get strong for next year,” Peavy said.

The White Sox put Lillibridge on the disabled list prior to Friday’s game. But the good news was that the fracture was non-displaced, so he will not require surgery.

“Two to three weeks in this hard cast and another soft cast for two weeks,” said Lillibridge, joking how the cast he’s currently sporting allows him to play video games and drive a little bit. “About a six-week process.

“Having it happen at the end of the year, I’m happy it wasn’t in June trying to come back. I won’t be swinging until late November anyway. If it was going to happen, it happened at this time and I appreciate it. Obviously, I wish I was finishing and having some fun out there still.”

Hopefully Lillibridge recovers fully and comes back strong next year. He had a heck of a season this year (one that I didn’t expect).